Betrothed

2 \ not so married mornings

Divya had known her entire life that she was bad at a few things. And no matter how hard she tried and how much she practiced, she just did not get any better at it. One of them was cooking. 

Throughout her graduation and post graduation in London, she had suffered because of it. Despite her parents' constant nagging for her to stay in their private residence in London with servants and caretakers waiting on her, hand and foot, Divya lived in a rented apartment downtown. She shopped, cleaned, cooked and studied. All on her own. She wanted to live a normal life for once. Without the thought of having to go back to India to marry a man that she had been betrothed to years ago.

"You just have to stay in the kitchen, Divya. Ram Singh will do the cooking. I told you, beta." Maharani Gayatri said on seeing her getting the sugar ready for the halwa which was to be her pehli rasoi.

"I thought I would manage." Divya said smiling politely at her mother-in-law. She was relieved when the woman asked her to let it be. She had told her the same thing the previous night too. However Divya thought that it would seem impolite to do that. 

She was a wonderful woman. She had managed to bring up two great kids. Whenever she had met her before the wedding, she had been nothing but sweet to her. 

Gayatri instructed the cook to get the food ready and lay the table by 9.

"You should watch the sunset from the gazebo in the middle of the lake in the other wing in the evening. It's beautiful. I remember spending long hours sitting there, watching the sun set when I first moved in here." Gayatri suggested recalling the first few months of her marriage.

Divya smiled chipping in a comment or two about the palace. She steadied one end of the pallu on her head as it began to slide down. The nath had been bothering her every time she opened her mouth to speak. She just had to parade in them for another day and then she could go back to her usual clothes. 

"Get Vikram to give you a tour. Jaisalmer is gorgeous too but you would love the ponds here in Udaipur."

Divya put up what seemed to barely pass for being a smile. Both the families knew the what had led to their marriage. They obviously knew that the two of them weren't exactly ecstatic about it. They could drop the pretence for once. 

.

Divya shut the bedroom door behind her glad to finally have the room to herself. It was 3 in the afternoon and they had just wrapped up an elaborate lunch. 

At home, Divya used to hate the greasy food that was prepared by the cooks, so she would ask them to make her something simpler for lunch and dinner. But she wasn't sure how long it was appropriate for her to wait before asking the cook to make something different for her. 

A few relatives of Vikram had poured in after breakfast wanting to spend some time with her, to get to know her. So, she had been busy answering questions about herself as coy-bride-ly as possible. Her mother-in-law had assured her that they weren't going to have any more guests in the evening and that she could rest and spend time with Vikram until dinner.

Vikram had busied himself in the study room in their private quarters to take a look at the much neglected office work. They hadn't spoken at all since their conversation the previous night. Truth be told, he was glad they hadn't spoken after that. Maybe if they could just steer clear of any non-work related conversation and show to parties together, they could make the arrangement work.

Divya quickly picked out a t-shirt and a comfy pair of pyjamas. She knew she could not wear shorts outside of their quarters, in front of aged caretakers. But in the comfort of their room and even their quarters, she could.